Akutze Selenecha

Akutze Selenecha (c. 31 October 1481 – 20 May 1537), born Aguste Ferrenza, was an Rezese explorer, navigator, and colonizer. Born in the Kingdom of Sante Reze, under the auspices of the K’uhul Ajaw he completed three voyages across the Makria Ocean. Those voyages and his efforts to establish settlements on the island of XXX, initiated the Mutulese colonization of Ochran.

At a time when The Ecclesarchial Republic and the Latin Empire controlled the trades routes with Belisaria and Scipia , Ferrenza proposed to reach Belisaria by sailing westward. This eventually received the support of the Ilok’tab Dynasty, which saw a chance to enter the spice trade through this new route. During his first voyage in 1511, he reached Ochran instead of arriving in Ahkad as he had intended, landing in Tsurushima. Over the course of three more voyages, he visited the Greater and Lesser Ochran Islands, as well as the coast of Daesong.

Early life

Akutze Selenecha was born Aguste Ferrenze the 31 October 1481 in the town of Pontecasale in the Kingdom of Sante Reze. He was part of the Ferrenze Great House, which was mostly wiped out in 1490 during the Patricide. Akutze found refuge with his mother and sisters in the Mutul. His mother remarried a local trader, and Akutze became a sailor at 10 if we’re to believe his written notes. In 1501, Selenecha began his apprenticeship as business agent for the important trader, Uik Ch’oponol of Siluik’. He then worked as captain for the Rezese’s Cabal. Ambitious, Selenecha eventually learned Latin, Rezese, Greek, and various dialects of Mutulese. He read widely about astronomy, geography, and history.

Quest for Belisaria

Background

In 1470, the astronomer Ub’alo suggested to the K’uhul Ajaw that sailing west would be a quicker way to reach Belisaria than the route around Oxidentale. The Divine Monarch rejected his proposal but the “southern passage” that the Mutuleses tried to reach in 1485 proved to be too hard and too costly to be a viable road and the project was shut down.

Nautical considerations

Though Selenecha was wrong about the number of degrees of longitude that separated Oxidentale from Belisaria and about the distance that each degree represented, he did possess valuable knowledge about the trade winds, which would prove to be the key to his successful navigation of the Makrian Ocean. During his first voyage in 1511, the brisk trade winds from the east, commonly called "Makrian easterlies", propelled Selenecha's fleet for five weeks, from the Mutul to Tsurushima. To return to the Divine Kingdom against this prevailing wind would have required several months of an arduous sailing technique, called beating, during which food and drinkable water would probably have been exhausted Instead, Selenecha returned home by following the curving trade winds northeastward to the middle latitudes of the North Makria, where he was able to catch the "westerlies" that blow eastward to the coast of Western Norumbia. It is unclear whether Selenecha learned about the winds from his own sailing experience or if he had heard about them from others. The corresponding technique for efficient travel in the Makrian Ocean appears to have been exploited first by the Tsurushinans during their own trading with Norumbia.

Agreement with the Divine Throne

After continually lobbying Kalak’Muul and two years of negotiations, he finally had success in January 1492, when the Divine Throne agreed to offer a pension to Selenecha and to finance 30% of the fleet.

Voyages

Between 1511 and 1528, Selenecha completed three round-trip voyages between Mutul and Ochran, each voyage being sponsored by the Divine Throne. These voyages marked the beginning of the Mutulese exploration and colonization of the Ochran continent.